Fayna María
García Martín

(Updated in June 2022) I obtained my degree in chemistry in July 2003 from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. During my studies I did an internship in the company Repsol-YPF in quality systems. Last year of the degree I was granted an Erasmus scholarship at the Universite Joseph Fourier (Grenoble, France) where I was internal student in the peptide laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Didier Boturyn. After obtaining my bachelor’s degree, I moved to do my doctorate at the University of Barcelona in the group of Prof. Albericio, very well known for his work on peptides field. My thesis focused on the exploration of new resins for solid phase, synthesis of analogs of antitumour peptides of marine origin and synthesis of therapeutic vaccines for cancer. During my predoctoral stage I made an internship in the group of Prof. MD. Alan Houghton at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA) where I performed in vivo evaluation of cancer vaccines. I completed my PhD in April 2008 with a grade of “sobresaliente cum laude”. At the next stage in the research career, I joined Prof. Nishimura’s group at the University of Hokkaido (Sapporo, Japan) with a postdoctoral contract and then I obtained a competitive postdoctoral scholarship granted by the “Japan Society for the Promotion of Science”. Two years after postdoctoral grant and contract, I got a faculty position at Faculty of Advanced Life Science from Sep 2010 to May 2020 being an Assistant Professor. The main research projects have consisted of the glycopeptide synthesis methodology, biological evaluation of Mucin1 glycopeptides, and development of the microarray technique for the study of protein affinity with glycopeptides. Several publications have emerged including in prestigious peer review journals in chemistry and biochemistry as principal investigator. During this period, apart from research, I have devoted myself to teaching undergraduate and master classes using novel pedagogical technologies as “Active Learning”. Also, in the research group, I have been co-director of undergraduate, master and doctoral students, also supervising the work of a postdoctoral researcher. In addition, I have participated in the internationalisation of Hokkaido University by promoting bilateral academic agreements with universities and research centres. Since May 2020, my actual position is Distinguished Researcher Professor Beatriz Galindo at Department of Chemistry of University of La Rioja. I belong to the group of Chemical Biology with interest of the synthesis of biomolecules with biological activity. My main research projects are related to the synthesis and evaluation of glycopeptides with therapeutic applications. During my scientific trajectory I have published 1 patent and 27 articles in international journals, the impact in the field is important as my publications accumulate more than 800 citations. I have participated in international conferences, including oral presentations and invitations. In the management part, I have experience in obtaining funding. I have got my own funding as principal investigator in projects obtained in competitive calls of the Japanese and Spanish government, University and private foundations. As volunteer work, I was the vice-chairwoman of the Association of Spanish Researchers in Japan. Also, I was member of the director board of RAICEX (“Red de Asociaciones de Científicos Españoles en el Exterior”). Recently, I am co-founder and vice-president of the “Japan Society for the Promotion of Science” Alumni Spain. I am board member of La Rioja section of the RSEQ (“Real Sociedad Española de Química”). In summary, I have experience at the research level, in the supervision of undergraduate, graduate students and researchers, in teaching at the theoretical and experimental level and in obtaining scholarships and research fundings. Then, in management of projects and multidisciplinary teams.